Sousaphone/tuba playing/storage stand

[pjv]

A couple of years ago I received a cimbasso that Tim Sullivan made for me with a stand that he'd fabricated from a cymbal stand, a bit of foam rubber, a multi-clamp thingy plus one other special piece...which doesn't come into this story.

The three above common elements are reasonably light, strong enough to sustain a mad drummers death metal blows and certainly not any more expensive then most tuba or sousaphone stands.

I wanted to have a sousaphone playing stand for long rehearsals and using what Tim had sent me cam up with something very comfortable and practical. Compared to my K&M sousaphone stand it's 100x more stable. With my 4oK the K&M stand usually wants to tip over because the entire sous is held in balance with a flimsy wing nut. As a playing stand it's too springy. My stand is as solid as a rock.

It didn't take long to figure out that by using the bottom bow foot rest from my K&M tuba stand I could use this new stand as "resting" stand for my sousaphones, a playing stand for my tubas, and even as a rest stand for my tubas if I really wanted too. My K&M playing stand is also worthless because it always sinks downwards while playing, so salvaging the bottom bow rest is a plus. I tested the stability of both the tuba as the sousaphone in "rest" modus by trying to tip the stands over (with caution!) and by picking up the stand with the instrument saddled up.

Anyway, If you were ever NOT satisfied with a tuba sous stand or are looking for an all-in-one, you might consider this idea. Do make sure and go for a strong professional cymbal stand or other type of percussion stand for that matter.

[pjv]

I was actually surprised how well it worked and how easy it was to find the right placement. I also like that I didn't have to change the bell position or the bit angles from my standing position. I did move the neck ever so slightly to the left. Peanuts.